


Maybe There's a Reason

by dearzoemurphy



Series: Fooling Around and Falling in Love [1]
Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: AU, F/M, First Time Meeting, Fluff, just a couple of adorable beans who don't know what they're doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 17:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11994960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: Zoe's stuck at a high school keggar because of her friend who needed a wingman, and is bored half to death until she *literally* runs into a beautiful stranger.AU where Zoe and Evan met at some random high school party, Connor's still alive, no sads except for those stemming from mental illness and family issues.





	Maybe There's a Reason

**Author's Note:**

> I got an idea late at night and just wrote until I was done with this, this is completely unedited so let me know if there's any glaring errors!
> 
> Also let me know if you like this AU! I might continue writing for it if enough people like it, I have quite a few ideas for where to go from here.

Zoe sighed, tucking her feet up onto her seat and pulling her phone closer to her face. She would rather be almost anywhere in the world than this party; she was only there because of her friend, Mel, who wanted to go to talk to a guy but didn’t want to go alone. Things went extremely well with him, so now Zoe was the one alone.

“Hey, what are you doing over here? Being a killjoy?” someone said from above Zoe.

Zoe looked up, startled and suddenly hit with the overwhelming scent of weed. She rolled her eyes and sighed. “I just came because of a friend,” she said curtly, then turned her attention back to her phone.

“Hey!” the guy said, snapping in her face, “I’m being serious! If you’re gonna be a square, then get out.”

Zoe shrugged. “Fine. I'll show myself out. Tell Melissa I’m waiting for her in the car, I don't need to waste anymore time with you lowlifes anyway,” she said, shoving her phone into her pocket and standing up. The guy who confronted her crossed his arms and smirked, seeming content with his supposed victory. Zoe was actually completely fine with the excuse to leave and sit in her car, and was about to walk out the door when she crashed headfirst into someone.

“Owwww!” she yelped, rubbing the spot on her head.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry, I didn't see you there!” a slightly raspy and anxiety-filled voice said hurriedly.

Zoe looked up and her jaw almost hit the floor. The stranger in front of her had beautiful blue eyes, a gentle soft stubble dotting his perfect jawline, and was breathtakingly beautiful.

“It's…it's okay, I'm okay, are you okay?” she stammered out, standing up quickly and reaching out a hand to help the stranger up.

He nodded, and took Zoe’s hand, standing up and staring into her eyes for a moment, taking in the lovely green hue of them, the soft curves of her nose, and the faint freckles that dotted her cheeks. Both of them stared at each other, still holding hands, for an almost unacceptable amount of time until the stranger snapped out of it and dropped Zoe’s hand and backed away a few steps.

“Uh, I'm okay, I'm okay too. I'm great actually, never been better! Ha, uh, what was your name again? I'm Evan, Evan Hansen, I don't usually go to parties like this so I don't want you to get the wrong idea of me that I'm a bad boy or something, unless that's what you're into or whatever…I'm so sorry I didn't mean to say that out loud! Ugh I just keep making this worse-” Evan said, anxiously wringing his hands then pulling on his face, which had turned redder than a cherry tomato.

Zoe laughed, a lilting, musical laugh that made Evan momentarily forget his anxiety and only focus on her. “My name’s Zoe, Zoe Murphy,” she said, holding out a hand for Evan to shake. He tried to sneakily wipe his sweaty hand on his shirt, then gripped tightly onto Zoe’s hand yanked it up and down a few times before hastily stuffing it in his pocket.

A light blush crossed both of their faces, and Evan looked at the ground and gently kicked his foot against the wood floor, unsure of what to say next.

“So…I was just about to get some air outside while I wait for my friend to…leave, do you want to come out on the porch with me?” Zoe asked, her blush growing slightly deeper.

Evan nodded, trying to hide his excited grin. “Yes! Of course,” he said, taking his hand out of his pocket to reach for Zoe’s again, but quickly pulled it back towards himself. Zoe noticed, then took his hand, smirking, and led him out of the house to the porch. Evan turned completely bright red, and couldn't stop the grin from crossing his face.

The pair was delighted to see that no one else was currently occupying the porch. Zoe led Evan towards a slightly rickety-looking bench swing, and let his hand go to take a seat on the right of it. Evan quickly sat next to her, almost falling in the process and seeming unsure of how close to sit.

Zoe glanced over to him and smiled, glad that something good could come o of this party.

“So…you go to Riverlake too?” she asked, inching slightly closer to Evan.

“Yeah. I got invited to this by my friend Jared, I mean, I guess he's just a family friend, he only invited me so his parents will pay for his car insurance since I don't have any actual friends…” he said, turning redder and fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

Zoe frowned. “You have to have actual friends! You're too nice and adorable...I mean, amazing,” she said, coughing, trying to cover up accidentally staring at Evan again.

Evan shrugged. “Well, I guess it's the fact that I can't talk to people usually like, at all? I just…freeze up and start fidgeting and stammering and turn red and people laugh at me and I don't want to risk embarrassment so I keep to myself a lot. I'm surprised I've been able to talk to you for this long,” he said, nervously chuckling at himself.

Zoe reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. “That's horrible. I get some of the same stuff, like, I have friends but I can't talk to strangers most of the time,” she said, rubbing Evan’s shoulder slightly.

His face flushed a bit again. “Well, at least we've got that in common,” he said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Yeah, I guess we do. My dad doesn't think it's bad enough for me to get help and sometimes I don't think it is either but it still hurts,” Zoe spilled out.

Evan turned to Zoe and became gravely serious. “Everyone deserves to get help if they think they need it,” he said, “if you ever can start, I can give you the name of my therapist,” he finished, moving closer to Zoe.

She smiled sweetly. “I don't know why I opened up about that, but thanks,” she said, moving her hand from his shoulder to take one of his shaking hands into her own.

“No I get it, you don't know me well enough to trust me, it's alright I won't tell anyone, I don't have anyone to tell anyway,” Evan replied, again with a nervous laugh.

“Oh it's not that at all! I'm just not used to talking about stuff and I feel bad complaining but you have it so much worse…I hope that's not offensive I didn't mean to offend I just feel insecure about that-” Zoe said quickly, almost vomiting out words.

“Oh don't worry about it! Your feelings and experiences matter, even if they're not as ‘bad’ as mine or whatever,” he said, hands beginning to sweat.

Zoe gave an amused sigh. “I'm so bad at this,” she said, almost under her breath, bringing the hand that wasn't holding Evan’s to rub her temple.

Evan gave her a concerned look. “At what?” he asked.

“Talking. Especially to people I find attractive,” Zoe replied, then immediately turned red.

Evan looked shocked. “Does that imply that you find me attractive?” he asked, voice cracking.

Zoe snorted. “Do you look at yourself in the mirror ever? You're fucking adorable,” she said, a grin spreading across her face.

It was Evan’s turn to be consumed by a fiery blush again. “I…thank you…I didn't think I was that adorable or whatever…that's an especially great compliment since you're so beautiful and sweet,” he said, turning to look at Zoe, still blushing fiercely.

Zoe turned as well to meet his gaze. “You know, I feel like I've known you for forever even though I've only known you for about ten minutes,” she said, studying the creases and lines on Evan’s forehead and the hint of dimples in his cheeks.

Evan gave a warm smile. “I feel the same way. You're one of the first people who's taken the time to talk to me for more than car insurance in a long time,” he said.

“That’s horrible, you're too good of a person for that,” she said, the hint of a frown tugging down the corners of her mouth.

Evan shrugged. “Don't worry about that right now. I just want to get to know you,” he said, crossing one leg over the other.

“I want to get to know you too. But I can start with myself if that makes you more comfortable,” Zoe said, looking to Evan and biting her lip.

Evan nodded. “Go ahead,” he said, turning more towards her.

“Well…I'm in 11th grade, I have an asshole older brother who doesn't care about anything except getting high, my parents should probably get divorced, I play guitar in jazz band at school, I draw sometimes, and I used to be a dancer,” she said, laughing lightly.

“Jazz band? I looove jazz, well, not all jazz but definitely jazz band jazz,” Evan said hurriedly.

Zoe snorted. “I guess that's another thing we have in common then,” she replied, turning more towards him so that they were almost facing each other completely.

“What about you?” she asked.

“Well, uh… I guess, I'm in 12th grade, my mom is a nurse who's going to school to become a lawyer, my dad left when I was little and has a family out in Colorado so my only siblings are step siblings, and I like nature a lot,” Evan said, scratching the back of his head.

“That's cool that your mom is going to be a lawyer,” Zoe said, pensively.

“Yeah I guess, it kinda sucks that she's gone a lot though, between work and school,” Evan replied, glancing at his fingernails.

~~~~“I can imagine. My mom has too much time on her hands though, that could almost be worse,” Zoe said, cracking a smile.

“In what ways?” Evan asked.

“Well, she gets…obsessed with things, like Pilates and Buddhism,” Zoe answered, snickering.

“Buddhism? That’s…interesting,” Evan said.

Zoe laughed. “She just sits around home all day, she’s driving herself crazy, it's okay to laugh,” she said.

“But having a mom who's always around has to be better than having a mom who's never around,” he said.

Zoe shrugged. “The grass is always greener on the other side I guess,” she admitted, then pulled her legs up onto the swing and leaned into Evan. He seemed surprised by the sudden contact, but didn't jump away.

Zoe closed her eyes. “You know, this night was going horribly, but it's actually pretty great right now,” she said, rubbing small circles on the back of Evan’s hand.

“I didn't want to come here, I'm glad you're the first person I ran into…literally I suppose,” Evan said, grinning and resting his head on top of Zoe’s.

“The only thing that would make this better is if you would kiss me,” Zoe said sleepily, then realized what she’d said and stiffened and turned red.

Evan turned almost as red as Zoe was. “I…I mean, I never said I wouldn't,” he replied, palms beginning to sweat again.

“Oh no no no, you don't have to if you're uncomfortable, the words just flew out of my mouth I'm so sorry-” Zoe began to say, but was cut off by Evan swiftly cupping Zoe’s chin and pulling her close enough to give her a sweet, chaste kiss on the lips. Zoe closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, wrapping her free arm around Evan. The two pulled apart after a few seconds, gasping for breath.

“Holy shit, you taste like strawberries,” Zoe said breathlessly, almost in awe.

Evan grinned, moving his hand from Zoe’s chin to the side of her face. “It was good then?” he asked.

Zoe laughed. “Oh my goodness you're so cute, of course it was. Was it your first kiss?” she asked.

Evan sheepishly nodded. “Yeah. Was it yours?” he asked in response.

“Yeah,” Zoe said simply. The pair sat in silence for a few moments, moving their arms back to their sides. Evan started slowly rocking the bench swing, but stopped when the rusty hinges screeched louder than the noise coming from out of the house.

“I hope this thing doesn't crash while we're on it,” Zoe said, jokingly.

Evan nodded. “At least, not before I kiss you again,” he said.

Zoe blushed. “I certainly want that to happen, but I also don't want this swing to break,” she said, laughing.

“I'll take my chances for you,” Evan said, leaning in again and kissing Zoe gently once more. She was more prepared this time, and wrapped her arms around Evan’s neck, bringing the two of them even closer together and deepening the kiss. Evan placed his hand behind Zoe’s head, keeping them close even when they broke the kiss for air.

“I think I'm starting to get the hang of this,” Evan said, grinning.

Zoe giggled. “Yes, yes you are. We can keep figuring it out together,” she said, smirking slightly.

A look of pure joy crossed Evan’s face. “I'd like that quite a lot,” he responded, blushing a bit and settling back onto the bench swing and taking Zoe’s hand.

“Here, let’s trade phones for a second so we can put our numbers in,” Zoe said, pulling hers out of her pocket.

“Oh, of course!” Evan agreed, taking out his and switching with Zoe.

“Is your home screen just some trees?” Zoe asked, giggling.

“Well…yeah,” Evan said, trying to disagree but realizing she was right.

“Alright, here you go,” Zoe said, handing back Evan’s phone, which had just received its fifth contact.

“Here's yours,” Evan said, smiling as they traded.

“Wait, before you put your phone up, you need a better wallpaper,” Zoe said.

Evan tilted his head. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Let's take a selfie. You know, to commemorate,” she said, grinning.

“Alright, fair warning that I've never taken one so I might mess it up,” Evan said.

Zoe chuckled. “It's not that hard just…here, flip the camera around, hold it out there, there you go, now it's just like taking a normal picture,” she said, smiling for the camera.

“Alright, now 1...2...3…” Evan said, preparing to take the picture. Right before he hit the button, Zoe quickly leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Evan turned a bright shade of pink as Zoe took his phone right out of his hand.

“Okay…and there, it's your new wallpaper now, and I sent it to myself,” she said, handing the phone back to Evan. He looked at the picture and smiled, seeing Zoe smiling into the kiss and his look of shock mixed with joy.

It was at that time when Zoe’s friend Mel came stumbling out of the house, looking slightly disheveled.

“Oh Zo, you'll never believe what…oh, who's this?” Mel started, then immediately changed tone and subject upon seeing Evan.

Zoe’s face flushed. “Oh! Uh, Mel, this is Evan and Evan, this is Mel,” she said, quickly introducing the two. They briefly shook hands, Mel just nodding throughout the whole interaction.

“Good job, honey,” she said to Zoe, still staring at Evan. He turned a bright shade of red, then checked his watch.

“Well I should probably go so I can make curfew,” he said, getting up from the swing and offering a hand to Zoe.

“I'll be in the car,” Mel said, winking as she stumbled down the porch stairs and over to Zoe’s car.

She grinned as she took Evan’s hand and stood up, wobbling slightly upon first getting up.

“I’m so glad I came tonight,” Zoe said, still grinning.

“Me too,” Evan said, moving a step closer and pulling her into a tender hug, which Zoe enthusiastically returned.

“I'll see you again soon, right?” she said, pulling away.

“I'll try my best,” Evan replied, smiling sweetly. Zoe decided that he wasn't going to get away without a proper goodbye, so she stood up on tiptoe, grabbed Evan’s shirt collar, and pulled him in for one last kiss. He gently wrapped his arms around her in return, and the two clung onto each other for several moments. When the kiss ended, Zoe grinned.

“I'll see you soon,” she said, waving as she walked down the stairs to join Mel at her car.

Evan waved back. “See you soon,” he called back, watching her walk away. For once, he was happy he had gone to something Jared had invited him to. Maybe he finally had a reason to believe he'd be okay.

 

 

 


End file.
